During the Aug. 4 Primary Election, 'Proposition K.I.D.S.'—or Keep Improving District Schools—a ballot measure that would increase a tax levy to help Perryville High School rebuild after a tornado —passed with 57.34% of the vote.
According to the Perryville County School District website, the tax levy would “increase its operating levy by $0.2215 per $100 of assessed valuation, generating $35 million to build a new facility for Perryville High School.”
After the March 2025 tornado, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said the high school was unsafe to conduct classes and recommended it be demolished and rebuilt.
Since then, the high school students and teachers have been scattered across the Perryville Campus, working in temporary structures and in the elementary building.
Perryville superintendent Dr. Fara Jones said students, faculty and members of the “Prop K.I.D.S." Committee have been working extremely hard for months advocating for the ballot measure.
“The Prop KIDS Committee was made up of our community members who just worked diligently for our district behind the scenes, in front of the scenes, yard signs in town, door-to-door knocking, just really reaching out and providing as much information as possible,” Jones said. “They really were such a support for the school district. Our intent was to inform everyone, answer any question that came our way, so that everybody felt very, very informed. And that Prop K.I.D.S. campaign committee truly supported us in those efforts.”
Jones said the students have been involved with advocating for the new school and will continue to be involved by contributing input to its construction.
“So we've had some involvement from our student population, and so we are going to be seeking their input through this whole process going forward. We want them to be a part of this. We want them to be involved, to have input, give us feedback, and all of that,” Jones said.
“So we have a lot of different student groups that we can utilize in that process, and so we're super excited about that because they seek that they want to be a part of it too, and we're very pleased about that opportunity.”
When the new school is built, Jones said it will include some upgrades such as a multi-purpose room that can fit all students as well as being safer and stronger than the previous building.
The school is partnered with Brock Miller Construction, and while the school is still being built, students will have to continue moving across campus for their classes.
“So we are engaged with Brock Miller Construction and have been through the months, even just immediately following the tornado, and so safety has just been paramount in their perspective. And so we coordinate very well with them, communicate with them constantly,” Jones said.
“They work so closely with our admin team so they understand how our students have to move throughout campus to get to the spaces that are temporary right now, and so it's a great partnership. And everyone is really student-focused, and so we're still going to be in that interim for a while, where students are moving from building to building, and so safety absolutely is what's most important to us, and that partnership and collaboration will just continue.”
Jones said the faculty is very excited that after the construction is over, they will finally be able to settle in one classroom once again.
“They are so excited. They have been anxiously waiting for this to be able to see that the end is near. We have just [kept] putting one foot in front of the other, and our teaching staff has just been phenomenal at that, putting the kids first, taking care of the kids-they've been amazing, and so we're excited for them to also go through this process and see what's ahead and be excited about it,” Jones said.
Jones said they want to get the high school built as soon as possible; however, there is no exact timeline yet as to when the school will be built.